My father was admitted to the hospital with excruciating back pain and abdominal pain. Although the back pain was chronic, it had become so severe. He couldn't lay in bed or sit in a chair for too long. His pain was barely being managed, despite my husband and I voicing our concern and disappointment with regard to his care. That was until Christine was assigned as my father's nurse.

The moment she came in to introduce herself, she saw the extreme discomfort my father was in and sprang into action. She was on the phone with doctors requesting that my father be seen immediately to get his pain to a more manageable level. She was doing everything she could within her power to keep him comfortable with the pain medication that was ordered for him simply was not working. I am ashamed to admit I walked out to the nurse's station multiple times and begged her to give him his medication. He didn't know there was nothing she could legally give.

She immediately reached out to the palliative care doctor and described in detail what was happening. He was at the bedside within the hour. Christine reached out multiple times within that hour to update the doctor. She was simply a warrior for us that day. She advocated for our father so we didn't have to. He was eventually hooked up to a patient-controlled pump and was able to get some relief thanks to Christine. No other doctor or nurse fought for my dad the way she did.

The thing that makes Christine so special is that she continued to pop in throughout my dad's stay to check in on not only him but all of us too. She was never assigned to my dad as a nurse again, but we saw her every day that she was working until he was discharged with hospice care. Calling her an angel is an understatement. Christine truly cares about my father, cares about my family, and showed the most passion for her job that I have ever witnessed. We need more nurses like her, she should be the standard.